Archive for the ‘white wine’

Soup has been around probably as long as people have been eating. It’s cheap, filling, restorative, and democratic.

Onion soups have been popular at least as far back as Roman times. They were, throughout history, seen as food for poor people, since onions were plentiful, easy to grow, and considered a restorative food.

The modern version of Onion Soup originates in France in the 18th C., made from softened onions and, traditionally, beef broth. Onion soups are likewise found in early English cookbooks and American cookbooks from colonial days to present.It is often finished by being placed under a grill in a ramekin with croutons and Gruyère melted on top. The crouton on top is reminiscent of using bread as “sops”.

Here are a couple of examples of early written Onion Soup recipes:

[1651: France]
“Potage of onion.
Cut your onions into very thin slices, fry them with butter, and after they are fried put them into a pot with water or with pease broth. After they are well sod, put in it a crust of bread and let it boile a very little; you may put some capers in it. Dry your bread then stove it; take up, and serve with one drop of vinegar.”
—The French Cook, Francois Pierre La Varenne, [1651] Englished by I.D.G. 1653, Introduced by Philip and Mary Hyman [Southover Press:East Sussex] 2001 (p. 130)

[1869: France]
“Onion Soup.
Peel 2 good-sized onions (say 7 oz.), cut them, in halves and then crosswise, in thin shreds:
Blanch, in boiling water, for five minutes, to remove their acrid flavour;
Put in a 6-inch stewpan, with 1 1/2 oz. of butter;
Stir over a brisk fire, and, when the onion becomes of a light brown colour, add a tablespoonful of flour, say 1 oz.;
Keep on the fire for two minutes longer;
Add: 1 quart of water; 2 pinches of salt; and 2 small ones of pepper;
Stir till boiling;
Simmer, for five minutes, on the stove corner; taste the seasoning;
Put in the soup-tureen 2 ox. of sliced dried roll, and 1 oz. of butter; our in the soup, stirring gently with a spoon to dissolve.
Serve.”
—The Royal Cookery Book (Le Livre de Cuisine) , Jules Gouffe, translated from the French and adapted for English Use by Alphonse Gouffe [Sampson Low, Son, and Marston:London] 1869 (p. 38-9)

(sources: www.wikipedia.org, www.foodtimeline.org)

************************************************************************************************************************* A few notes:

For myself, I like a lot of onions in my soup; almost stew-like. If you prefer a brothier soup, either reduce the amount of onions or increase the broth.

Because onions do sweeten as they cook down, I don’t recommend using sweet onions like 1015’s, Vidalias, or Mauis. They will make the soup too sweet. Regular yellow onions are just fine. Plus, they’re cheaper.

This soup is traditionally made with beef broth. However, you can use chicken or turkey broth if you want a lighter soup. Or, use vegetable broth to make this vegetarian (or vegan if you omit the Gruyère or use soy cheese).

The best bread to use with this soup is a good crusty European-style bread like a baguette, ciabatta, pain au levain, etc. These will hold up quite well if you decide to make the soup a gratin.

The Ingredients

2 tbsp. Olive Oil

5 lbs. onions, sliced about 1/4″ thick

4 cl. garlic, minced

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 c. dry white wine or unsweetened apple cider (optional)

4 c. beef broth or vegetable broth

Salt & Pepper to taste

Toasted bread or your favorite crackers

Shredded Gruyère, Emmenthal, or Swiss cheese

1. Heat the olive oil in a stockpot or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and the 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt (these will help release the water from the onions and make them wilt more quickly).

The onions. I was quite weepy when I finished slicing.

Stir until the onions begin to heat through, turn the heat down to medium-low, cover and begin wilting the onions.

Covering the onions. This steams the onions and helps them to wilt more quickly at the beginning of the cooking process.

2. After the first 30 minutes (stirring after each 15 minutes), uncover the onions (there will be a lot of liquid; it will cook down), add the thyme, and continue cooking until the onions are cooked down as much as you prefer, stirring every 15 minutes. (If you are cooking your onions until they become very soft, you will want to stir them more often as they soften so they don’t begin to burn.)

After 15 minutes. The onions have begun to soften and release their liquid.

After 30 minutes. More wilted and more liquid.

Adding the thyme.

At 45 minutes. I generally cook them further down than this. However, at this point, it’s up to you how much further you’d like to go.

At 1 hour. This is usually where I’ll stop. I don’t necessarily want the onions caramelized, just very soft and sweet.

You want your onions to be soft, but not necessarily caramelized.

3. Once the onions are cooked to your preference, increase the temperature to medium-high, add the white wine or apple cider (if using) and cook until the wine has evaporated.

Adding the wine. Let this cook down until most of it has evaporated.If you don’t want to use wine, use unsweetened apple cider.Or, omit this step all together.

4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Adding the broth. You can also use chicken or vegetable broths.

5. If you want to do the more traditional serving method, here it goes: Turn on your oven to broil and place the rack in the top position. Ladle the soup into oven-proof bowls (the best bowls are ones that have handles; you can buy these at any restaurant supply – if you don’t have bowls with handles, place them on a baking sheet), place a piece of the toasted bread in the center and sprinkle on a healthy amount of the cheese. Place the bowls under the broiler for just a minute or two so until the cheese melts and gets brown and bubbly. Carefully remove the bowls from the oven and serve.

If you don’t want to go that route, simply serve the soup with the bread and cheese on the side.

The best breads to use are crusty, day-old, European-style. This is one I made a couple of days before.

Grated Gruyere. You can also use Emmenthal or Swiss cheeses as well. I’m not sure why these became the most common cheeses for Onion Soup, but they are perfect.

I prefer to serve my soup this way. Bread on the side with the cheese on top of the soup. I find it easier to eat and a whole lot less mess to clean up. Of course, if you prefer the more traditonal gratin method, go for it.

This time of year provides the perfect excuse to break out some of the recipes that I would never make the rest of the year. Which, in central Texas, means that I have only about 3 months to indulge in some of my favorite comfort foods.

Ossobuco is one of them. With the rich lamb, sauce, and risotto, it’s a wonderful accompaniment to a cold night.

The name literally means “bone with a hole” (osso – bone; buco – hole). Ossobuco is a dish (legendarily) created in the Milano area in northern Italy in the 19th century. Some say it was created by local farmers as a way to cook tougher cuts of meat (i.e. shanks – the shin portion of the leg. The fore shank is the bottom part of the shin; the hind shnk the upper part of the shin.); others, it was created in an osteria.

The original recipe is made with veal shanks, cinnamon, and bay leaves with no tomato. The more modern and more popular version is made with tomatoes, vegetables, and red wine. And, while veal shank is still used widely, lamb shank is gaining in popularity.

As for myself, I prefer the lamb shanks. I find they have far more flavor. And, if you can get hind shanks, more meat for the money.

***********************

A few notes:

1. In this example, I’m using fore shanks. The butcher I bought these from didn’t have hind shanks that day. But, they were large and worked well in this dish. Also, I bought these still in the cryovac packaging. The butcher had received them from the farm that morning and they hadn’t been fully trimmed yet. More than likely, the shanks you buy will be already trimmed and ready to go.

2. If you prefer not to use wine, then you can omit it all together. As substitutions for red wine you can use extra stock for deglazing (you can add 1 tablespoon red wine or balsamic vinegar per 1 cup of stock for tartness), or 100% cranberry or pomegranate juice; for white wine, you can use extra chicken or vegetable stock (you can add 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white wine vinegar to 1 cup of stock for tartness), verjus (a juice made from unripe green grapes), or unsweetened apple cider or juice.

3. The traditional accompaniment for this dish is risotto. However, of you prefer, you can also serve this with polenta, mashed potatoes, or pasta. If you do use pasta, use a shaped pasta (such as campenelle or rotini) or a wide pasta (such as paprdelle or bucatini).

4. Gremolata is served alongside the Ossobuco as a way to cut through the richness of the dish.

The ingredients for everything.

The ingredients for the Ossobuco.

The produce: Starting from top left – lemon zest, garlic; middle, from top – carrots, celery, onion; right, from top – thyme, rosemary

Lamb shank fresh from the farm. If you can get hind shanks, do so. These fore shanks were great. I just had to clean them.

Cleaning the lamb shank. You must remove the silverskin (or have your butcher do it). It doesn’t cook down and your meat will be chewy and tough.

The cleaned lamb shank. Admittedly not perfect, but a whole lot better.

Lamb Ossobuco

4 large lamb shanks (preferably hind shanks)

Salt

Flour

3 tbsp. Olive Oil

1 lg. onion, minced

2 carrots, peeled, either diced or cut into thin rounds

2 stalks celery, diced

3 cl. garlic, minced

1/2 c. tomato paste

1 c. dry red wine

2 sprigs rosemary

4 sprigs thyme

1 ea. 2″ strip lemon zest

2 – 3 c. chicken or beef broth (or a combination of both), more if needed

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly sprinkle salt on the lamb shanks. Then, lightly flour the them, shaking off any excess flour. Set aside.

2. In a large Dutch oven or a deep, stove-proof casserole dish, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the lamb shanks and sear until browned. Cook the them in batches if needed. Remove the shanks from the heat and set aside.

Browning the shanks. Do this in batches if you need to; don’t crowd the pan or the shanks will steam and not brown.

3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the vegetables and garlic and saute until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 5 minutes.

Sauteing the vegetables.

Add in the tomato paste and cook another 3 – 4 minutes.

Adding the tomato paste. Let the paste cook until it begins to turn a burnt orange color. This is the sugar caramelizing and helps to deepen the flavor.

Add in the red wine to deglaze the pan and cook another 5 – 7 minutes to reduce the wine and soften the flavor.

4. Lay the reserved shanks on top of the vegetables and add just enough broth to come halfway up the shanks.

Ready for the oven.

Cover the casserole or Dutch oven and place in the oven. Cook for 2 to 2-1/2 hours (flipping the meat halfway through) or until the meat is tender. Check for liquid content, adding more if needed.

5. After you take the baking dish out of the oven, remove the shanks and set aside.

So tender, it’s falling off the bone.

If you like, set the baking dish on the stove over medium-high heat to reduce the sauce. Remove the rosemary and thyme stalks and discard.

I like to reduce the sauce a bit to concentrate the flavor. It’s up to you, however.

6. Traditionally, the shank is served whole with the risotto and Gremolata. However, if you prefer (and I do if I use fore shanks), trim the meat off the bone and mix it back into the sauce; then serve with the Risotto and Gremolata.

The meat trimmed off the bone. I prefer to do this if I use fore shanks.

The meat back in the sauce. You can do this if you want to help stretch the meat. I like to do it when I use fore shanks.

Saffron. The world’s most expensive spice (currently about $3000/lb.). It comes from the stamen of the Crocus flower. It takes approximately 50,000 – 75,000 flowers to make one pound of saffron.Be sure to buy saffron that is in it’s whole form. Don’t buy powdered saffron; it’s usually cut with turmeric.

Risotto alla Milanese

6 c. stock – beef, chicken, lamb, or vegetable

1 tsp. saffron, crushed

4 tbsp butter

1 small onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 c. carnaroli or arborrio rice

1/2 c. dry white wine

3/4 c. fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Bring 5 cups of the stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and keep the stock warm. In a small saucepan heat the remaining 1 cup of stock with the saffron. Again, reduce the heat to low and keep warm.

2. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened, about 5 – 7 minutes.

Sauteing the onion and garlic.

Add in the rice and sauté, stirring constantly, another 5 minutes.

Adding the rice. This will help to flavor the rice and begin the cooking process.

Add a pinch or two of salt, stir again, and add in the wine. Stir constantly until the wine has been absorbed by the rice.

Adding the wine. At this point, constant stirring of the rice will help to release the starch.

3. Lower the heat under the rice to medium. Begin adding the 5 cups of stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until the broth has been absorbed.

Adding the broth. Be sure to constantly stir the rice.

After you have added the 3rd cup of broth, add in the broth with the saffron. Continue stirring.

Adding the saffron broth. Now, the risotto will become its classic yellow color.

4. After you have added the 5th cup of stock, begin testing the rice to make sure it is al dente. You may not need all the broth. When the rice is al dente (or to your liking), add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the Parmigiano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.